Newsletter

Lead doesn't belong in environment

Lead is a nerve poison. Ingestion can cause permanent nerve damage and even death. Thus drinking water is no longer conveyed in lead piping.

Knowing this, Senators Begich and Murkowski signed on as co-sponsors of Senate Bill 838 which removes lead shot and lead sinkers from EPA jurisdiction as toxic substances. It allows them to still be used and be introduced on a regular basis into the environment. Don't get all the pellets out of a duck you've shot and you're ingesting lead. Eat fish that have eaten a lead pellet or two and you're ingesting lead. Miss that shot at a duck and you've just put lead into the water system.

So why do something so obviously dangerous to public and wildlife health?

The NRA has decided even though steel shot has been available as a safe substitute they must have lead shot. Never mind its dangers, its proven toxicity. Their interests take precedence over the public's.

And Senators Murkowski and Begich agree as does Don Young.

Remember this when re-election time rolls around. Your children's health is not as important as the NRA's wishes. The environment, water and wildlife, are not as important as the NRA. And you are not as important to Murkowski, Begich, and Young as the NRA.